1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shrimp processing and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for boiling, drying, peeling and size grading shellfish products such as shrimp and crawfish while simultaneously utilizing the by-products to process broth and salt. The present invention includes a fully automated means for processing shrimp, broth, salt, food additives, animal feed and fertilizer and moving the product from the loading dock to a finished product storage area without the need of human contact with the product thereby greatly reducing the risk of contamination and the cost of labor.
The procedures currently being used for processing shrimp require having personnel and employees manually dump the product into a conk tank and transfer it from one processing system into the next thereby exposing the food product to sweat, saliva, respiratory germs and the like. Furthermore, airborne contaminants also come in contact with the food product during processing, increasing the risk of causing sickness and disease to the consumer.
Furthermore, airborne contaminants also come in contact with the personnel during processing thereby increasing the risk of respiratory disease associated with the inhalation of sodium bisulphate and other harmful airborne contaminants.
The present invention seeks to alleviate these inherent dangers by eliminating the need for workers to come in contact with the product and providing a plurality of vacuums and cleaning systems to ensure a clean environment during processing. Automated conveyors serve to move the product from one system to the next from the loading dock to the storage tank. Each system involved in the processing is independent from the others and the conveyors are not attached thereby allowing a facility to upgrade current equipment to the completely automated system in steps.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other shellfish processing means known in the art. While these shrimp processors may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.